Outbound Prospecting,

When launching the Lead Generation Insights blog, I also developed a focused outreach guide (available here). The goal is to help establish and implement sales lead qualification, sales lead generation, sales lead nurturing and outbound sales and marketing prospecting initiatives. Now is a good time to take a fresh look at the insights contained in the guide and how they bring value to lead generation efforts. In this 7 Part series you’ll learn the basics to plan, implement and refine a focused outreach outbound prospecting sales and marketing initiative.

Part 1: Define the Objective of your Lead Generation Initiative – Know Your Objective

The first step in your planning phase is to define the objective. This is a simple but much overlooked part of a focused outreach outbound sales and marketing prospecting initiative.

First, figure out why you’re initiating a focused outreach initiative. I know this may sound obvious. But more often than not, objectives are not defined. Too often, objectives are assumed, or thought to be different than what’s really intended, or are unrealistic.

Before you strategize, know your objective. Whatever your goal, the more specific and clear your objective, the better your chance of reaching it. Defining the goal first is critical because it impacts the strategy, planning and execution decisions that follow. A key point: when defining goals, collaborate.

Identify and Invite Key Players; Confirm the Objective

Determine who to involve and get participation among these key players. Solicit input, listen, and understand. Once the objective is agreed upon, distribute, get confirmation and make sure the assembled key players are in agreement before moving forward. Address and work through potential pitfalls early. Don’t ignore outstanding differences, challenges or issues. They will resurface when you least expect them to or at the most inappropriate time for you to address them.

This is the first and crucial step in planning a focused outreach outbound sales and marketing prospecting initiative.

Do you know the objective of your focused outreach outbound sales and marketing prospecting initiative?

Stay tuned as we discuss putting the buyer in the forefront in Part 2 of this 7 part series.